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Hema Malni, Sunny Deol so

near yet so far

hen Columnist Shobhaa elected to the Lok Sabha from Mathura for
News & De tweeted “Hema Ma- the second time, will be seated in the mid-
views lini won. Sunny Deol won. dle benches, while her stepson Sunny Deol,
Dharmendra has more
who was elected from Gurdaspur seat in
W MPs at home than AAP or his maiden attempt in 2019 Lok Sabha elec-
Bharat hiteshi JDS or RJD in Parliament”, it immediately tions, will be seated among the backbench-
became viral. People were anticipating ers. Sunny Deol’s “dhai kilo ka haath” had
Hiteshi is an how the two would sit in Parliament. defeated Punjab Congress President, Sunil
independent journalist- However, the “dream girl” would not be Jakhar by over 82,000 votes. It was star
turned-author and a there to support her stepson Sunny Deol in power and Modi brand that worked in his
political commentator. his Lok Sabha debut. Reason-all thanks to favour otherwise, Sunil Jhakhar was con-
The views expressed seating rules, the two members of Parlia- sidered a formidable candidate. Similarly,
are his own ment would be seated well apart in the Lok Sadhavi Pragya will find herself seated far
Sabha, when the session begins on June 6. behind Anurag Thakur, who despite being
Being the first timer, Sunny Deol, famous much younger to her has been elected to
for his blockbusters like Gadar, Damini, Parliament for the fourth time. This will be
Ghayal, Ghatak, Arjun, and Indian, would Sadhavi Pragya’s first stint in the Lok Sabha.
have to sit with first-timers who have made In Lok Sabha, each elected Member of
it to the lower house. Interestingly, the 17th Parliament has a designated seat, decided
Lok Sabha has 300 first-time MPs and a re- on the basis of a set formula and their sen-
cord number of women MPs. iority in the House. The treasurer benches
The first timers include Sunny Deol, to the right of the Speaker of the House are
singer Hansraj Hans, cricketer Gautam reserved for the ruling party or alliance,
Gambhir, Sadhvi whereas left benches are allotted to the
Pragya Singh Thakur, elected members of the Opposition. Since
and actor Ravi Kishan. there are few opposition members this time
Bengali actress-turned as about 352 MPs are from NDA and over
politicians Mimi 300 from BJP alone, the opposition benches
Chakraborty and Nus- would wear a deserted look.
rat Jahan who shared The Prime Minister, cabinet ministers
‘first-day at parliament’ and other senior leaders of the ruling party
pictures on Twitter occupy front rows on the right. The Leader
have received memes. of the Opposition and leaders of the non-
They have been elected ruling parties sit in the first row on the left.
as Trinamool Con- However, Congress though principle oppo-
gress TMC candidates. sition party would not be given the leader
While Chakraborty of the opposition status as it has just 52 MPs,
is an elected member from the Jadavpur three short of the requirement to qualify for
Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal, Jahan is that status. During the last election too, the
the representative of Basirhat constitu- party had got just 44 MPs and was not given
ency from the same state. “And its us again. the status of leader of the opposition. Last
First day at Parliament Nusrat Jahan,” Mimi benches are allotted to newcomers unless
Chakraborty tweeted tagging Jahan. But they are given a cabinet portfolio. If Sunny
regardless of their popularity or seniority Deol is inducted as a minister in the Modi
in their past trade, MPs on their debut will cabinet, he might sit in the middle rows
all be seated far behind the seasoned par- but otherwise; he would be a back bencher
liamentarians, as per the official seating away from his step mother Hema Malini
system. and would be devoid of her guidance.
As such Hema Malini, who has been letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 15 June 2019 66 www.Tehelka.com